Recipes like mum used to make

Mother's cooking - the words conjure up delicious sauces bubbling on a stove, warm smells wafting from the kitchen, dishes that make us feel cared for and loved

In an era of prissy restaurant food and fussy preparation, family recipes appeal because of their simple ingredients and unpretentious tastes. The new line of Mama's Kitchen books gathers together recipes from four cooks - Italian, Jewish, Mexican and Greek - and highlights how good cooking starts at home.

Try one of these wholesome dishes, and tell us your family's favourite dish or one your remember from childhood

The Jewish mama
Jewish mama Denise Phillips is a leader in stylish kosher cooking. She trained with renowned restaurateur Prue Leith, has authored cookbooks and teaches in London at her own cookery school. Her interest in cooking began with her mother.

'I was hooked by the way the women all worked together in the kitchen - gossiping, singing, laughing and crying (from the onions!). The kitchen was always steamy and it smelled divine - the aromas of baking bread, roasting chicken and simmering cholen and goulash were always wafting through the air.

'There is no single Jewish cooking style,' she says in her book. 'The Jewish culinary tradition encompasses a wide variety of cultures and cuisines.' Here, she shares her recipe for chicken soup, an essential part of the traditional Friday night family meal in most Ashkenazi homes.

The Greek mama
Greek mama Rosemary Barron has a culinary lifestyle most of us can only dream about, but her simple advice of using fresh seasonal ingredients is easy for anyone to follow. 'My kitchen opens out onto a courtyard, which is shaded by an ancient fig tree on one side and by a beautiful vine on the other,' says Rosemary in her new book. 'Our wood-burning oven is just inside the courtyard gate, and next to it is a storage room in which I keep my preserves, pickles, cheeses and yogurt, and hang my figs to dry. Although I have a refrigerator, my kitchen life is controlled by the seasons.'

She founded Crete's acclaimed cooking school Kandra Kitchen Crete, has written several cookbooks and contributed to magazines including Bon Appetit and BBC Good Food. She now runs courses on Santorini.

The Mexican mama
For Sofia Lurrinua-Craxton, learning to cook and appreciating food is a delight shared by everyone in the family. She comes from a family of cooks and has created best-selling recipes and launched concepts like the Bliss Juice Bars in London.

'A passion for food, both cooking and eating it, is in my family's blood,' she says in her new book. 'During the last few months that I lived in Mexico before getting married and moving to the UK, my mother gave me a crash course in Mexican home-style cooking. She feels that a Mexican girl is ready to marry only when she knows how to cook!'

The Italian mama
Who says mother's cooking can only come from a woman? Giancarlo Caldesi demonstrates that spiritually he's a 'mama', making family-style recipes based on his Tuscan upbringing. Giancarlo had few toys growing up and doesn't remember ever receiving a Christmas present. Instead, his memories are of celebrations, family feasts and fresh pasta, which his mother made by hand daily. As a young boy he often helped in the kitchen and grew up around women skinning rabbits, making soffritto (a base for many Tuscan sauces, soups and casseroles) and preparing stuffed pasta. He and his wife Katie run the Caffe Caldesi in London, which uses Tuscan recipes passed down from generation to generation.